Kabul-Islamabad dispute halts Moscow Format meeting statement
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the eighth meeting of the ‘Moscow Format’ ended without a joint statement after Taliban authorities’ delegation objected to parts of the draft final text, a development that once again highlights the diplomatic rift between Kabul and Islamabad.
Sajjad Haider Khan, spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Friday that Pakistan’s delegation had taken part in the meeting with a ‘constructive approach’ and had made its positions clear, but, he said, the Taliban authorities’ delegation did not agree with wording included in the statements issued by the meeting in previous years.
He stressed that the dispute over the final text was ‘not merely lexical’ and said it was tied to fundamental and security issues between the two sides, preventing them from reaching a common conclusion.
The spokesman also rejected accusations by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban authorities, over Pakistan’s links to Islamic State Khorasan Province, and added that responsibility for ensuring security in the border provinces of Badakhshan and Nuristan lies with the Taliban authorities.
Haider Khan also expressed concern over the presence of armed groups in Afghanistan, claiming that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army have safe havens in Kabul and some other areas, and said Islamabad had shared the locations of these bases with Kabul.
The deadlock was reported as Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, also confirmed that the eighth Moscow Format meeting ended without a final statement due to a failure to reach agreement between Pakistan and the Taliban authorities’ delegation.
